The Chinese played a vital role in the Dutch colonial economy, and their economic role in the region has remained important throughout the centuries. Starting in the late nineteenth century, China also played a role in their socio-political life. After the Chinese managed to shed discriminatory regulations in the colony in the first decades of the twentieth century, they again had to strive for their rights in the new Republic of Indonesia. This proved to be a difficult process filled with te...

About the 8th Annual T.M.C. Asser Lecture, Michael Fakhri writes:

“Drawing on my work as Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food and my upcoming report to the Human Rights Council, I will outline a way out. I will explain how systems not only produce food but also amplify and produce forms of violence that make people more poor, vulnerable, and marginalised. I also describe how food systems rely on a global economy of dependency and extractivism.

In sum, food systems are part of a cycle b...

'Wars Overseas' focuses on Dutch military actions outside Europe in the early-modern period. Those actions were rooted in the Eighty Years’ War, the conflict between Spain and the northern Netherlands that led to the creation of the independent Dutch Republic. The Republic was determined to trade in tropical products from Asia, Africa and the Americas, commodities on which the Iberians had had a monopoly for a century or more. To do so, however, it would have to fight. The fledgling State d...

This book, 'Climate Security and the Military: Concepts, Strategies and Partnerships', reviews the climate Security Nexus from the military angle and proposes the design of climate security strategies and how they can contribute to adaptation to and mitigation of the related challenges. Part 1 reviews the understanding of the Climate Security Nexus. Subsequently, Part 2 assesses the potential design of climate security strategies. In Part 3, adaptation to climate change by the military is rev...

At the heart of Singapore’s political economy is the PAP government, which controls the levers of control. The accumulation of power occurs through a recurring pattern of state collectivisation and economic liberalisation, while the nation’s wealth expands through state investment vehicles adapting to shifts in geopolitics and trends in international trade and finance. Overshadowing the bicameral capitalistic system is the corridor of power, where ideas are developed to drive growth and p...

What defines whether a project or programme is “good” or “bad”? When we’re striving for excellence in the execution of our projects and programmes, what do we mean? IPMA has given its extended definition in the PEB, the Project Excellence Baseline. This model is based on the well-known EFQM model, but is adapted to the field of project- and programme management and after over 10 years of use has been adapted to the model we’re using now.

The only thing we do not seem to be polarizing on these days is the worry that we are polarizing. To what extent are these worries really justified? In the public as well as scientific debate, much is still unclear about what kind of polarization is taking place, who is polarizing and why, and what the consequences of polarization are. By focusing on the role of social identification and the particular importance of education in our schooled society, I aim to clarify the “what,” “who,�...